I’m just back from our annual two-week vacation on the Rhode Island shore in South County. We rent a cottage at the tip of Great Island in Point Judith Pond.
This is pretty much the only time that I paddle in salt water, and there are so many great places to paddle in the area. I always spend a couple of days paddling around Point Judith Pond and the Harbor of Refuge. The weather wasn’t the best with early morning wind and fog, so it was a little tougher to get out into open water. I did get over to Newport to paddle around the rocks at Kings Beach (until the fog rolled in cutting my trip short) and out to Rose Island. I didn’t get to Dutch Island or Fort Wetherill in Jamestown this year, which is a bummer. I’ll have to get those next year.
I did paddle 12 out of 14 days - not bad. All the trip reports are here:
Our club video night is coming up, so I put together a slideshow of vacation paddling pictures - mostly Point Judith, Jamestown and Newport in RI. Lots of foggy, misty morning paddles.
@Overstreet said:
Cormorants and their white rocks are everywhere!
There are beautiful beaches in RI, but a lot of the shoreline is rocky. Being alone and in a canoe, I tend not to do big water crossings. If I can paddle out beyond the break zone and get in behind the rocks, I’m good with that. I guess I tend to paddle where the cormorants like to hang out.
There are large rookeries of cormorants and anhinga in the Harris Chain of lakes in winter. (Central Fla, Leesburg)
They feed by swimming and catching fish and crabs(small). Thus the have to leave the “Frozen” North. Scat is real runny with solid scell and bone of small critters. Washes easy enough. Stinks a lot…
Today I saw anhinga perched on wood duck boxes. I think it was just a nice lace to sit. I thing they only nest in trees during “nesting” season. Other times they just hang out near the fish. Nesting in large groups gives ’ em protection from ospreys and Ravens.
Most people here consider cormorants an invasive species. They kill the trees in which they roost. It’s just another part of the changes that are constantly occurring around us.
I’ve never seen a cormorant in a tree around here. On occasion you will see them in a fresh water lake or river, but mostly they are down by the ocean hanging out on rocks.
